Those Dumb Khakis
by kanyon01
Summary: Ralph is a hot nerd and Jack can't control himself. That's it, that's the story. A/N: Jack and Ralph are 17 & in high school in this AU! Hope you enjoy, don't read if you don't like. Disclaimer: I don't own Lord of the Flies or any of its characters.
1. Chapter 1

It's not like Jack could help himself. The kid was practically begging to get pushed around, always wearing khaki shorts and plaid shirts. But it wasn't just that, it was how he carried himself. Like he knew how sexy he looked in those damn nerdy glasses. Which Jack couldn't actually argue, but he loved to pretend. It was yet another lifeless Monday morning at _Riverview Academy._ Jack spotted exhausted teens for miles, with the exception of Ralph. Ralph literally never looked tired. He was _always_ prepared for class and he was _always_ spouting positivity nonsense. It was fucking infuriating.

The guy drove Jack up the wall, raising his damn hand every five minutes. I mean what was this, the fourth grade? Jack couldn't handle it, not at 7am while forcibly hearing a teacher drone on and on. That's why he felt it perfectly necessary to lean forward and shove Ralph in the shoulder, hard. The blonde audibly gasped, although not from shock. He was far too used to Jack's games. Truthfully, he was madly in love with the bloke. He'd never admit it, but the teen's touches tortured him to the core. Ralph was always left wanting more, but never receiving. Sometimes he'd accidentally let a noise slip out. He'd usually feel ashamed about it too, since he couldn't seem to conceal his feelings any better.

"Loser, did that actually hurt?" Jack spat into his ear. Ralph suppressed a shiver. The redhead was just so damn close.

"No, I'm just cringing 'cause you touched me with those gross fingers." Ralph yell-whispered back. He was instantly embarrassed of his childish retort.

"That all you got these days Ralph? My gross fingers?" Jack questioned whilst chuckling. Ralph's version of fighting was honestly adorable sometimes. With that in mind, the redhead decided to spice things up a bit. He inched ever closer to Ralph's ear, and practically breathed "Your mom loved these dirty fingers last night."

"Ew dude, that was disgusting, even for you." The blondie snapped, twisting in his seat to lightly shove Jack out of his space. The taller boy leaned back whilst smirking. He was amused to discover Ralph was freely ogling his biceps.

"See something you like baby?" Jack mocked playfully, pretending to check the other teen out. He took his time looking the boy up and down slowly, with intent. Jack loved toying with Ralph, and was pleased to to see his "friend" get flustered from it.

"Fuck off." Ralph hissed, turning scarlet red. He quickly spun forward and attempted to calm his nerves. He couldn't believe he'd just done that. The teen knew he was getting sloppy, but not _that_ sloppy.

"Fuck." He mumbled under his breath.

"What was that, you wanna fuck?'" Jack asked, snickering. Ralph simply groaned and put his head down. He'd have to deal with the consequences of that one slip up for the next 40 damn minutes. Oh how he wished there weren't assigned seats.

Although when the bell rang, he realized how fast class had truly gone. As Ralph stood up and began gather his things, he felt red hot shame burning in his gut. How could he be so blatantly attracted to someone that only made his life hell? It simply didn't make sense, and Ralph loathed himself for it. He moped out of the room and down the corridors to his next class. First period had been math, second period was journalism. But the day droned on until 6th period lunch. And of course, he sat a table away from Jack. At times he caught himself staring at the fiery teen inhaling his food. He didn't know why it was such a sexy thing, watching boys eat. But it just was.

So instead of ogling his tormentor, he forcibly stared down at his soggy slice of pizza. He was so lost in thought that he didn't notice Jack's presence right away. The teen had stood up and rounded Ralph's table, so now he was standing directly behind the blonde. Ralph turned to face his enemy, not sure what the teen was up to.

"What do you want?" He snapped, still feeling residual nerves from earlier in the day.

"Just wanted to say you look sexy as hell today." Jack slurred, smirking at Ralph. Ralph sputtered, shocked. Although he quickly realized Jack was just attempting to get a reaction out of him. He cursed to himself and ran a hand through his hair angrily. One little slip up and suddenly the redhead was mock flirting every two seconds.

"Would you please fuck off?" Ralph mumbled, frowning at Jack. He could handle all the normal jests. He was fine with the teen knocking his books down, or pushing him around in class. But this type of teasing hurt the blonde. It was just too real for him. He tried not to let it show on his face, but he was almost positive it was blatantly obvious.

"Fuck you? Sure babe anytime." The redhead fired back.

"How do you want it? Over the table?" He continued.

"Or maybe I should take you home and-" Jack was abruptly cut off as Ralph stood up and slapped him in the face, hard. The people in the cafeteria grew silent with shock. It was a relatively small high school, so everyone kind of knew of each other. And everyone knew Ralph was a friendly, tolerant individual. In fact, the two teens fought infamously and never once had Ralph actually struck back. Physically or otherwise. So this was understandably an enormous shock.

Jack stood there in disbelief. He was aware that there were eyes all around, and it was strange. Normally he was the one messing with Ralph. The tables had been turned and he didn't like it.

"What the fuck is your problem?" He retorted, getting a little flustered. He had just been playing around anyway. It was never meant to actually anger the blonde.

"What the fuck is your problem? Talking to me like that? That's just downright inappropriate." He replied, feeling flustered himself. Jack scoffed and realized they weren't going to get anywhere if they felt like they were being watched. He grabbed Ralph's shoulder and began to drag him out of the cafeteria.

"Let go of me." Ralph protested weakly. The embarrassment was finally setting in. He'd let his emotions get the best of him and now people would likely be talking about this for weeks. So he just gave in and let Jack drag him along. When they finally found a private place to talk, Jack faced the blonde.


	2. Chapter 2

"What's your problem, huh? Making me look like the dumbass out there? Slapping me like I'm the bitch? You tryin' to start somethin'?" Jack angrily forced out, taking tight hold of Ralph's shoulders to assert dominance. There was a moment of fuming silence from the blonde.

"Huh baby? Got nothin' to say?" Jack persisted, just to piss him off more. Ralph was still flustered and worked up and hurt all at once.

"You know what, fuck you! You wanna fight, let's fight. Maybe then you'll stop walking all over me." He retorted, then paused and got real close to Jack's face.

"You think I take your shit every single damn day cause I'm weak? You really think that? You think you're the toughest bitch on campus, but really you're just an insecure piece of crap. I've had just about a-fucking-nough. Take me for real and see what happens." Ralph spat angrily. He was purely livid, all his hurt from just a few seconds prior had shifted into pure rage and he'd lost control of what he was saying. He was so pissed at the redhead. He wanted Jack to feel just an ounce of what he felt every single day.

The redhead was shocked, having rarely heard the blonde swear, let alone get mad. He normally blushed, joked, and seemed all together awkward. Jack really wanted to let it slide, beings that the blonde was so damn sexy. (Especially when he was all worked up like this) But the dude had an image to uphold. He couldn't just let Ralph talk to him like that.

"Fine pansy, today, after school at the basketball court. You wanna prove me wrong? Bring the best you got. Just know that when I beat your ass, I'm not carrying you to the nurse."

Ralph scoffed, pushed the redhead off him and stated. "Yeah whatever bigshot, see you there." Then turned on his heel and strutted back to the cafeteria.

It took an entire 48 minutes for Ralph to realize he was utterly fucked. He didn't know how to fight, hell he'd never even punched anyone. The best move he had was the damn slap from earlier. And even that was pathetic. He didn't know why he played the tough guy to Jack. It was all bullshit-in the moment, pure unadulterated bullshit. If he could go back, he would apologize hella. He would probably do anything the redhead asked for in retribution. But instead he ran his damn mouth and now he would have to face the consequences. And Ralph was a weird combination of frightened and turned on. Just the idea of the redhead beating him up was kind of hot. All sweaty and angry. But he didn't want to dwell on that idea. Instead he spent the next three classes trying to figure out how to get out of the fight. He realized he would have to grovel and aplogize and beg. He hoped to hell Jack hadn't spread the word about the fight, and that there would be no crowd waiting for their supposed brawl.

It was fitting to the mood of his day when he begrudgingly walked to the basketball court to discover at least 75 kids waiting to watch the fight, Jack standing smack in the middle of it all. When he saw his blonde rival approaching, he smirked evilly.

"Hey baby, wasn't sure you'd show up." He stated proudly. Ralph was immediately pissed off at the use of the nickname.

"Come here and we can get started." The redhead called in a seductive tone of voice. Of course it was for the pure purpose of mocking Ralph, but that didn't stop the blonde from getting ideas. He'd been trying to play mean back, but he should've realized how dumb that was. You can't fight fire with fire. Ralph was never going to beat the redhead at his own game, just like Jack could never figure out how to solve a fucking calculus problem. They were just different like that.

So the blonde decided to take a different approach.

"Oh yeah, I wouldn't miss it for the world." He replied, using the sexiest tone of voice he could conjure up. He knew the redhead liked to treat Ralph like his bitch, but how far would he really be willing to go in front of a crowd his peers? The blonde walked slowly over to Jack and grabbed onto the collar of his shirt. Jack's eyes widened in surprise.

"How did you wanna start, sexy?" Ralph asked, then licked his lips slowly. Jack swallowed audibly. He never expected the blonde to act like this. But instead of letting it go further, he harshly pushed the boy off of him.

"Fuck me later baby, we gotta fight now, just like you wanted." He retorted. Ralph sighed, realizing he was gonna get beat up. There didn't seem to be another way out, the crowd surrounding them completely.

"Look I'm sorry, I don't know what got into me earlier. Can't we just call a truce?" The blonde mumbled, last ditch attempt at getting out of this situation. Jack got real close to Ralphs ear.

"I'm sorry, but I gotta do this now. It's who I am here. You're just gonna have to take it and give me back the best that you got. But I'll try to go easy on you, okay?" He whispered, then stepped back abruptly. To the rest of the crowd, the shock on Ralph's face could be mistaken as fear. But really he was just surprised to get even an inch of honesty or compassion from the redhead. Snapping out of his stupor, he spoke.

"Don't do this." He muttered, looking Jack straight in the eyes. The redhead frowned, but quickly morphed his face into one of anger for the crowd. He punched the blonde straight in the eye. Ralph was knocked to the ground by the impact. Jack grabbed his sweater and hauled him back to his feet, after all it wasn't a fair to hit someone while they were down. The redhead proceeded to knee Ralph in the ribs at least three times.

"At least try to fight back pussy." He yelled. Ralph just kept on taking the beating, punch after punch, kick after kick. Until finally, he was down on the cement crying, blood streaming from his lip and underneath his eye, spurting from his nose. His rib cage ached horribly.

"Jack please stop." He whimpered, finally recognizing the situation wholly, realizing that the one he loved was beating the shit out of him. He knew he wasn't going to be able to fight back, even if he wanted to, even if he was strong enough, his heart wouldn't let him. Jack looked down at the blonde and frowned angrily. He crouched down and leaned in real close to the blonde

"You haven't even tried to hit me back once, at least make this harder for me!" He whispered frustrated. The redhead didn't know what to do. He really didn't want to keep hitting the blonde, but he'd have no choice if things kept on like this. He had to be the tough one, always had to look strong. If he didn't have his reputation, he was nothing. At last, Jack realized an out.

"Run. Get up and run as fast as you can." He commanded. Ralph looked up at him, wide eyed and scared. He nodded once, more subtle than ever. Jack stood up and took an almost inconceivable step back, giving the blonde some space. Ralph stood up, turned around and pushed straight through the crowd, sprinting out of the area. He didn't think he would've been able to do it, but he was. The people were too unprepared to stop him, having been previously engrossed in the fight. Jack pretended to be shocked and took off speedily after Ralph. The two made it all the way to a forest near the school. At first people had attempted to follow them, but they'd given up when the pair of boys had been too fast to keep up with.

Jack and Ralph were both keeled over trying to catch their breath, and Ralph was damn exhausted. He collapsed into the dirt, wondering why Jack was still standing there. Wishing the redhead would leave so he could properly sob.

"Please go away." He forced out in between puffs of air. Jack looked at the boy, face blank. There seemed to be some unspoken emotion dwelling in his eyes, but he wouldn't vocalize it. There was a long silence and then suddenly, Jack just turned around and walked away. No apology, nothing. As soon as the redhead disappeared, Ralph burst into proper tears. He felt his face with his fingers, it was tender and sore and bloody. He most likely looked a mess. After about fifteen minutes of 'licking his wounds', he dragged himself to a standing position and began the long trek home.

It was dark by the time he made it to his house. Normally, it would've been a 30 minute bus ride, it was an hour walk. It got dark early in the winter. He didn't want to call his parents either, they were both at work and didn't need to know what had happened. They were hardly around anyway, and probably wouldn't notice the bruises littering his face. Ralph was always awake and at school before his parents even got up for work, and he was always asleep by the time they got home. He was basically a stranger in his own home, only texting them when he needed something. So when he wandered into the house at 5:30pm and there was nobody around to chastise him, he wasn't shocked. He'd have to patch up his wounds all by himself. And really that was what was best for everyone.

He trekked inside and lugged himself into his room, collapsing on the bed, exhausted. He let himself lie down for nearly 15 minutes. But his face was throbbing so badly he knew he'd have to deal with it so that he could minimize swelling for school the next day. He dragged himself into the kitchen and carefully washed his face in the kitchen sink. Once he'd gotten all the dried blood off, he rummaged through the freezer until he found a bag of frozen peas. He went into the living room and slumped down onto the old couch, holding the ice gingerly against his face. But his side was achy too, so he had to get up and find more ice. By then he was annoyed and grumpy and just wanted to sleep. He crawled back into his bed and laid down so that the ice packs rested on both his face and chest without him having to hold them in place. As soon as he was in a comfortable position, he passed the fuck out.


	3. Chapter 3

Jack couldn't handle the guilt. It would've been easy if he didn't have to see the blonde, moping around like a kicked puppy. But everyday, nearly every damn class, he'd have to see Ralph, bruised up and beaten. Because of him, because he always had something to prove. He just couldn't let it go, he had to teach Ralph a lesson. He had to show the school he was the tough guy. It was always like this, move after move. He always had something to prove. Jack didn't know why he couldn't stop. But this time was just so much worse. Ralph's face was a bruised mess, his nose and eye black and blue, his lip busted and healing slowly. The boy probably needed stitches, but neglected to get them.

And that bothered Jack more than anything else. Why was it that the poster boy for perfect health, perfect attendance, and perfect grades couldn't manage to go get fucking stitches? It made no sense. You'd think he would've gone to the doctors immediately. But no, instead he must've slept with an open cut on his lip, a cut that still occasionally leaked blood. And the blondie would just casually wipe it off with the back of his hand, as if itching his nose. As if he hadn't gotten the utter shit beat out of him. As if Jack hadn't been the one to do it. It had been a whole 18 hours since the fight and the redhead felt like an entire elephant was sitting on his chest. He couldn't handle the weight of what he'd done, to his cute nerd. To his baby. He talked big game, but whenever he actually did anything it killed him inside.

And this did kill him, the feeling suffocated him. Every time he closed his eyes, he'd hear a wounded "Don't do this." He'd see those pleading puppy eyes that he'd fantasized about so many times. And he hated himself for going through with it, for making such a big fuss out of one little slap. One slap was all it took for Jack to fuck things up for himself for the rest of the school year. He wished he wasn't so insecure, so pathetic. But he was, and that's why he beat people up and called people names and generally fucked up.

At a certain point in the day, the redhead couldn't take it any longer. He wanted to ditch, but knew it would only cause more trouble at home. So he did the only other thing possible, he decided to face his problem. Maybe if he talked to the blonde, apologized, he might feel better. He needed to feel better. So, despite his stubbornness, Jack approached Ralph at his table. He stood behind the boy and coughed to get his attention. He knew it was lame, but he felt so out of place when he wasn't picking on the boy. Ralph stiffened and turned around slowly.

"Jack." He greeted. The redhead managed a small smile.

"Hey look, I'm really sorry about the fight. I took it too far, and I can see that now. Your face looks horrible." Jack forced out, hearing how mean his voice sounded to even his own ears. He wished he knew how to stop doing that. Ralph scoffed at Jack's insult.

"Yeah, I know, thanks for pointing it out." He snapped and turned back around to quietly poke at his food. He was still feeling vulnerable from the things that had transpired between them. One could say the boy was pouting. Jack panicked, realizing he'd hurt the boy yet again.

"I didn't mean it like that! I just meant, it looks like you need stitches, why haven't you gotten any?" He quickly backtracked, well aware that he sounded like a bitch. Being concerned about others was not the way to look tough, but he just needed to know why Ralph wasn't taking care of himself. Especially since it was so out of character. Ralph was a little surprised at Jack's questioning attitude, he didn't even sound aggressive this time.

"I can't have my parents knowing I got into a fight at school. And if they don't take me, there's no other way to get there." The blonde replied, somewhat defensively. He didn't want to have to explain his home life to Jack, only to have it possibly be used against him later. Jack frowned at the boys explanation. He realized there was only one thing to do if he wanted things to go back to "normal" between them.

"I'll take you, after school." He forced out before he could change his mind. The blond gaped in shock.

"Why would you do that? You're the one that did this to me in the first place." He responded, pointing out the obvious.

"Cause I was wrong, I shouldn't have done it. I'm trying to apologize blondie, can you cut me some slack." Jack pleaded, lowering his voice somewhat. He didn't want anyone to hear him being a softie, although a few bystanders were able to pick up the conversation. This irritated the redhead, that people were always watching him, always so curious about what he'd do next. He didn't know why.

"Fine." Ralph finally spoke, snapping Jack out of his thoughts.

"Alright, just take my bus and once we get to my house, I'll borrow my dads car. Sound good?" The redhead replied, not really understanding why he suddenly felt excited. It was like this huge weight had been lifted off his chest.

"Okay." Ralph replied calmly, then turned around and went right back to eating his lunch. The redhead stalked off, feeling somewhat elated. He knew he shouldn't feel good about himself until Ralph started 'flirting' back again, but this was at least a start.


	4. Chapter 4

Ralph waited by Jack's locker after school, hoping the redhead wouldn't back out of his initial offer. He knew he should hate the guy, but he just couldn't. He yearned for any kind of attention from Jack. After about 5 minutes, the boy showed up. He stalked over to Ralph and skipped the greeting.

"You got your stuff?" He asked, out of breath for some reason. Ralph simply nodded in response.

"Alright, let's go." Jack commanded, grabbing Ralph's shoulder and leading the way. The blonde swallowed nervously at the contact, wishing his enemy (friend?) didn't affect him so much. They left the school promptly and stomped over to Jack's bus. The redhead paused for a second, shoulders tense.

Soon enough he gave in, taking the first step onto the yellow automobile. His stance was wholly defensive. He marched straight to the back of the bus, where a single lone seat remained. It was as if he'd staked a claim on that spot months prior. Some silent agreement in place. Students watched curiously as Ralph trailed the infamous redhead. Jack sat down first, then aggressively pulled Ralph down next to him.

The blonde felt his face heat up at the gesture. As if he was Jack's bitch. He knew he should say something, stand up for himself. But he couldn't bring himself to. He'd rather have harsh contact than a complete lack of contact. The seat was small too, initially designed for one person. They were touching from shoulder to knee. Jack didn't even seem to care, simply putting in earbuds and staring out the window. He didn't appear to be too interested in making conversation. Ralph tried to relax, although he was distracted by Jack's presence. But if he were to try and scoot away, half of his ass would hang off the seat. That would be even worse. So, the blonde just accepted his fate, and hoped the redhead wouldn't point out his ever evident blush.

After 20 of the longest minutes of Ralph's life, the bus pulled up to a stop. Jack elbowed the blonde, signalling for him to get up. He did, and together they got off the bus. The vehicle zoomed away. At last Jack took out his earbuds. The boy glanced over at Ralph, as if checking on him. The blonde immediately noticed something was off, that the redhead seemed upset.

"What?" Ralph questioned, breaking the silence. Jack looked down, coughed.

"Nothing." He replied curtly, forcing his face to appear blank. But still, some unnamable emotion lingered in his eyes.

"My house is just around the corner, you can wait outside while I grab the car keys." He stated. Ralph nodded. He'd never really noticed how bossy the redhead could be, but today he was picking up on it. They finally arrived at Jack's place. Ralph stood and waited as he was told to do. Then after a few seconds, Jack came running out with the keys, looking flustered. He unlocked the car.

"Get in, hurry." He whisper-yelled. Ralph hopped into the passenger seat and buckled up, fearful yet excited to experience Jack's driving. The redhead got in, locked the doors, and turned on the engine. Ralph saw Jack's old man fleeing the house, screaming at his son to get out of the car. Before Ralph had the chance to feel guilty, Jack was peeling out of his driveway, tires squealing in the process. As soon as they were in the clear, Jack started laughing hysterically.

"Holy shit! Did you see him run out there in his damn pajamas?" He breathed out in between peals of laughter. Ralph smiled to himself, not willing to laugh at Jack's father's expense. After all, you really aren't allowed to make fun of other people's family, only they are. He simply appreciated the rare albeit genuine laughter from his companion. Seeing this side of Jack was strange. Normally the boy was so angry. After a moment or so, The redhead simmered down.

"What kind of music do you like blondie?" He asked, smirking. Ralph looked down at his lap sheepishly. He practically preened whenever Jack called him that.

"You're gonna laugh. It doesn't match my personality." He replied lightly.

"C'mon, you have to tell me. Now I'm curious!" Jack nearly shouted, apparently not caring to monitor his voice. He seemed a lot less filtered than he did at school. His windows were down, he was speeding like mad, wind blowing through his wild red hair. His worn out ACDC t shirt billowed in the breeze. It was like Ralph was staring at a completely different person.

"Alright I love heavy metal." Ralph confessed. The redhead gasped.

"You're kidding me right? Stuck up, keep it together, straight A, khaki wearing honor student Ralph loves heavy metal?" Jack was amused as hell, smirking and snickering. He couldn't believe his damn ears. Ralph nodded, laughing quietly. He didn't want to let too much of his guard down around Jack, but the boy was being absolutely irresistible. He seemed so free and comfortable while driving.

"Alright, play whatever you want then, impress me." Jack prodded, handing over the aux cord. Ralph was hesitant, but he knew that he would much rather listen to his own playlist anyway. So he gave in, and within seconds Metallica was exploding from the speakers. The redhead grinned at Ralph's choice. The music was too loud for them to really make small talk, so the rest of the ride was silent (save for the music). This time however, it wasn't awkward in the slightest. They were both absorbed in their own thoughts, or in the actual songs.

Ralph could honestly say he was enjoying himself. The whole thing made him feel great. Speeding, blasting music, he finally felt like he was living. The blonde knew that sounded pathetic, even in his own mind. But he never actually got chances like this, to just be free. He couldn't pretend it had nothing to do with Jack. The boy who had hurt him in so many ways was also the key to his escape.

Maybe that was the reason he was drawn to Jack. The redhead forced him to feel things, anger, pain, lust, excitement, fear, sadness, everything. Typically, Ralph felt like he was just trying to make it through life. He had to wake up and get good grades to please parents that were never around. The blonde felt so neutral when he was alone, almost empty. it was like he was underwater, watching everything from a distance. He constantly took the back seat in his own life, only accomplishing things to satisfy others. And yet here was this boy who challenged him everyday, in new and unpredictable ways. How could he not be infatuated?

"We're here blondie." Jack stated, snapping Ralph out of his reflection.

"Alright." The boy groaned, moving to unbuckle his seatbelt. Jack was watching his every movement. It unnerved him excessively.

"What're you looking at?" He snapped, feeling exposed.

"You seem scared." The redhead concluded. He proceeded to shock the blonde further by reaching over and placing his hand on top of Ralph's. The blonde froze in shock, his palm still resting on the seat belt buckle.

"Well yeah I've never gotten stitches before." he ground out defensively, trying hard not to blush. Although based on how much Jack was smirking, he knew he was red as hell.

"It's gonna be okay, just try to relax when they're actually stitching you up." Jack replied knowingly. Apparently he had gone through this before. The redhead seemed amused by how easily he affected Ralph, but there was also another unreadable emotion dwelling in his eyes. Jack patted the blonde's hand comfortingly, then casually removed his own hand and got out of the car.

It was as if nothing had transpired between them. As if this moment hadn't completely upturned Ralph's existence.

The blonde was left reeling in his seat, flustered as hell. He swore quietly to himself, taking a second or two to calm down. After that he worked up the nerve to leave the vehicle. Jack was waiting, arms crossed, and smiling confidently. The guy was just so damn shameless. Ralph didn't know how he would survive this day without his chest bursting.


End file.
